I wanted the pull out motherboard so I could see what I was doing!
Posted on 08/25/2002 2:13:54 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Edited on 04/13/2004 3:04:58 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
It's never been easier to build your own PC.
People from all walks of life do it. Accountants, students, housewives, and engineers build their own PCs. I had a memorable conversation with a cab driver at the last Fall Comdex (see Is DIY Dead? (Redux)) about building PCs. Components are easy to install, connection standards are robust, and operating systems are easier to set up--even Linux is easier to install than, say, Windows 3.0.
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I wanted the pull out motherboard so I could see what I was doing!
I have had one prebuilt system (from IBM) and I can't even begin to tell you the problems with it once I started trying to upgrade it. Several of my friends had similar experiences with various different manufacturers (i.e. Compaq, Dell, HP). And looking at info online, it is a perpetual and consistent problem. If someone is never (and I mean never) going to upgrade anything in their system then they might want to consider a prebuilt system, otherwise building your own is the only way to go to avoid compatibility problems.
Another thing to consider is the quality of the components (and the companies behind them) that are going into your system. CD/DVD drives are a great example. You can get some great prices on fast no-name drives now, but if you go with these cheapies you will increase the chances of having problems with software compatability. The newer copyright features on disks don't play well with many of the cheap drives causing the software to simply not function until a fix for the drive or software comes out. Notice in the prebuilt systems there is no indication of the manufacturers of some components (a good indication they aren't the highest quality). It is often the lesser-thought-of components that the "top of the line" prebuilt systems go cheap on to save costs.
Despite what the article suggests, I can still quite clearly design a system that is equal in performance to prebuilt ones for less money, or design a system that exceeds their performance for the same price.
Pentium P4B 2.56Ghz (533 FSB)
Swiftech MCX-462 CPU cooler
Gigabyte GA-8IHXP 850E + ICH4 dual channel 1066 (533 bus) rambus with ATA-133 raid, USB 2.0, dual bios, etc.
1Gbyte 1066 Rambus memory
Silver rounded IDE cables
Copper rounded Floppy cable
Nvidia Geforce4 Ti 4600
Gigabit ethernet card
Digital video capture board
WinTV video recorder board
Audigy Platinuim with live drive
TDK burn proof CDR-W
16x DVD
LS-120 drive
Two 120Gbyte 7200 RPM Hard drives (raided)
One 80Gbyte 7200 RPM hard drive
Sony SDM M-81 LCD hi-rez monitor
Ultra wide SCSI card
Lian Li aluminuim case with 5 fans and a side window
Enermax 430 watt dual fan power supply
Cold cathode blue lit interior
Intel PC camera
Laser JetIII printer
Cannon USB scanner
Wingman Extreme Joystick
Hp 8 pen color plotter
Full surround sound system
1.44 floppy drive
Will smoke any prebuilt system out there. It is not terribly difficult to build a custom computer. :-)
A Polaroid SprintScan 35 Plus film/slide scanner. Forgot to include him. :-)
Both hot systems! Whohoo!!
I've had my fill.
What is not factored in to such analyses is the marginal cost of your time. If you are an unemployed garbageman, go ahead. My employer charges the government $150/hour of my time, so I use that as a 'reasonable' estimate. Would I pay a tech $150/hour to build me a super-duper PC when one from Alienware would be 95% as good? Add the cost of time to this analysis and it evaporates.
Everybody needs a hobby; if building PCs is yours, be my guest.
"A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money." Or a PC can be a substitute 'hole' for those without access to the briny deep.
--Boris
Very time consuming, but I learned stuff that is nice to know! I do have the time now.
I wholeheartedly agree! This summer I was about to pitch an old Gateway Pentium I That I pretty well gave up on after trying to upgrade the HD & CD. The thing just wouldn’t cooperate, so I put it in the garage to gather dust.
At a flea market one day I spotted a guy with tons of computer stuff for unbelievable prices. After a brief discussion I decided to part with $25.00 for a new mother board ( ide ) capable. Now I did this just for the kicks... I had no intention of using the system if I was successful.
I amazed myself.... after about two or three days with my hands in the guts... Wham it booted up... It was on of the most satisfying things I have ever done.
I will never buy a prebuilt again.. It did wonders for my confidence and my basic knowledge.
PS: I gave the old Gateway system to a kid in my school....You would have thought I gave him a ton of gold... That felt good too !!!!
Grew up over the border just north a bit!
Big words is the stock in trade on this forum!!! HAHA! LOL!!!
Mine too!
And I worked with Mainframe computers for a living.
But Pc's are different.
There are two flip sides to this: (1) If something goes wrong with the machine, the manufacturer is still in business, the machine is still in 99.44% stock condition, and the manufacturer has a clue about the machines he's selling, you may be better off that route. (2) If something goes wrong with the machine and the manufacturer's out of business (or just plain useless), you may be better off if you've built it yourself since you'll know what's "really in there".
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